Secret Under An Orange Coat
by XQuietDreamsX
Summary: Kenny has a secret, and nobody knows it. When the opportunity arrives to reveal it, Will Kenny take it? T for language and themes.
1. Secrets

Football. Softball. Baseball. Basketball. All these are sports that an average 17 year old boy would normally do. Or maybe they would just do nothing. Kenny was an exception. He didn't do sports. He danced. He danced because it made him feel good when he was down, or when his parents fought. Maybe after his death he would dance to let everything go. Either way, he loved it. The feel of freedom was enough for him. He didn't want to be famous. He wanted nothing except his friends and his dance. Of course, this was he secret. His secret hidden underneath his orange jacket.

-::-

Kenny walked with his friends to school. It was a Thursday morning, and the school was becoming full of students. Mr. Garrison had joined the high school, and so he was still the boys teacher. Kyle began talking about the homework last night, while Kenny drowned him out with music. Kenny had saved up for an iPod years ago, and he loved it. He saw Stan look at him and Kenny turned down the music. He heard Stan ask if he was feeling alright.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." He said, his coat muffling his voice.

"Ok Kenny." Stan said.

They sat down in their seats, and Mr. Garrison took roll call.

"OK class, today I found out the school is having a talent show."

Kenny still had in his headphones, but he had turned down the volume. He started listening to . His heart leaped with joy at the two words of Talent Show, but then he realized it was his secret. He couldn't show it. Even if he did, Cartman wouldn't dare to let him live it down, and everyone in the school would think he's a fag.

"Any student can join, with any act." Mr. Garrison looked at Cartman.

"As long as it's legal." Cartman looked annoyed at the words.

As described the Talent Show, Kenny stared off into space, thinking. What if he did? Would he be OK? Will he? He knew that he was more than capable, and his home-skilled abilities were no problem. It was all about his willingness.

"And the show is during lunch on Thursday of next week. If you are signing up, please do so by Wednesday." He finished.

Everyone started talking about it, and Kenny heard Wendy say she was playing the piano. Kyle leaned toward Kenny in his seat.

"Hey, dude, you gonna do anything?" he whispered.

"Hm? I don't know,maybe." Kenny said.

"K. Me too. Doubt Cartman's doing anything though." He whispered, laughing.

Mr. Garrison told everyone to quiet down, and class began. Kenny barely payed attention, and he was just looking out the window, daydreaming.

-::-

After school, the boys walked home, and Kenny walked into his home.

"What a shit hole." He thought.

He could hear his parents yell about something, and then he heard more yelling, and just grew and grew. Kenny couldn't stand the yelling. He didn't want to hear violence, so he ran outside. He's parents hadn't even noticed he came home, let alone left. He didn't run to anyone, just to the forest. The forest where nobody goes to. He checked to make sure he was alone, then he bumped his hip, making the song change. Kenny took off his hood. He started dancing, and he didn't really care about anything right now. He even got so into it he began to sing softly.

"I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on to this moment with you." he sang.

He had it on maximum volume, and he couldn't hear anything. After that song had ended, he didn't just stop like usual. He kept on dancing. He Bumped his hip, changing the song. The kept on dancing for at least an hour. When he turned around, he began to sing along with the song. Kenny put up his hood. He sang all the way home. Then he got inside and took out his headphones.

"Hey Kenny." He mom said, sitting down on the couch next to him. He turned to her, and saw a bruise on her face.

"Mom! he said, muffled.

"What is it Kenny? If you are wondering where your father is, he went out for a bit." she said.

"Mom! You have a bruise on your face! What happened?"

"Oh nothing. Just your fucking father decided to settle things a little differently than is possibly legal." she said, looking at Kenny.

"What? The motherfucker!" He said.

"Kenny, it's OK." she hugged him.

Kenny may almost be 18, but he still enjoyed the moments when his mother would hug him. She would hug him for a long time after he died. His deaths were less constant, more of a monthly deal, and he never died twice in a month. He was safe this month then. He hugged her back. He smiled underneath his coat. Then he decided.

He was going to dance at the talent show on Thursday.


	2. Sign Up

On Friday he walked to gym, and after he made sure no one looked, then saw that there was only one spot left, and that was the last spot. He took it. Kenny wrote his name, but no act. It was going to be a surprise.

He walked to Butters in the crowded hallway. It was before class.

"Hey Butters!" he said under his coat.

" Oh, hey Kenny." Butters said.

"Are you doing anything during the talent show?" Kenny asked.

"No. I have nothing. Sides, I prefer to just watch." Butters said.

"Oh Ok." Kenny said.

They spoke for awhile, and then they heard the bell ring. Kenny walked to class.

Class seemed to go by fast, and did the whole school day. It seemed the only short time was lunch when he talked with his friends. Tweek joined the table. He really hadn't in the last 9 or so years. He was still messy, and he wouldn't put the fucking coffee down, no matter how many times he was told he should.

"Seriously, the Talent show is gonna suck, so why do we have to go?" Cartman said.

"It's not going to suck. Sides, your just pissed because you can't do your act fatass!" Kyle said.

"Teaching people how to count cards isn't illegal, it just frowned upon!" Cartman yelled.

They started yelling at each other, then Stan joined in. Kenny turned to Tweek and they started talking.

"Are you doing anything Tweek?" Kenny asked.

"N-No! Gah! Talent shows are too much pressure!" Tweak said, twitching.

Kenny was actually pretty happy that Tweek wasn't going to do the talent show,not because Kenny wanted all the spotlight,because that was the last thing he wanted. But because he didn't want Tweek to hurt himself.

"Oh OK. That's cool." Kenny said.

Tweek and Kenny talked for awhile, about various things.

After the fight broke up between Kyle and Cartman, and Stan defending Kyle, lunch ended. School went by fast again, but of course it was a Friday, so people were happy.

-::-

After school, everyone left and Kenny stepped into the snow covered ground. It was cold. He smiled. When he walked towards the forest again, Butters ran towards him.

"Huh? Butters?" he said.

"It's me Kenny!" He said, running up behind him.

Everyone had cleared out, unless they were helping after school or there was a club meeting. Kenny kept walking, with Butters following him.

"Wanna walk home together?" he said.

Kenny kept walking towards the forest., He didn't even turned around.

"Thank you but no, I'm going to walk along today."

"Are you sure? You seem lonely." Butters said.

"No I'm fine. Seriously. I'm just thinking is all. Daydreaming." Kenny said.

"OK Kenny," Butters said.

Butters left and Kenny walked to the forest. He looked around, seeing nothing but snow covered trees. He smiled. Kenny bumped his hip to change to the song when he out in his headphones.

"Dancin' is my remedy, remedy, oh!" he sang softly.

After a long time, he left. He got home to see his mom on the couch sleeping. Kenny smiled, seeing no new bruises or marks on her. She was breathing softly. Kenny took a blanket and set it on her.


	3. Decisions

The weekend passed, and the same with the week. On Saturday, Kenny played basketball with Kyle and Stan, and then in Sunday he hung out all day with Token and Butters. On Monday, the day went by so fast it seemed like an hour. Kenny walked to the forest and thought of the dance he was going to do.

"So many dances..." he said.

He played iPod on max, and thought. Then after a while he decided it would be easier if he just free styled it.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this..." he said.

He got up and walked home. He got home to his parents fighting again, Kenny just drowned them out and slept on the couch. He fell asleep listening to music, and he woke on Tuesday with it out and charging,

"Thanks mom." he said.

It was Tuesday morning when he woke up, so he wasn't late. He walked to school, and walked to class. Tuesday was actually pretty slow. When he got to class, he heard Wendy talking to BeBe behind him, about what song BeBe was going to sing. After school, he walked to the snow covered forest.

"What song..." he asked.

He bumped his hip, and the song that came up was the Song he was going to dance to. He was going to dance to The Edge Of Glory by Lady GaGa. He walked home, and both his parents were sleeping. Kenny just made some food and watch some TV, their basic cable TV.

Wednesday morning, he got up and went to school. He talked with Kyle for bit before class, then talked with Butters during lunch. He found out that a lot of people were going to be singing, but no one was dancing.

After school, he went to forest and danced. After a long time, at least an hour, he walked home. His dad was on the couch sleeping and his mom was in Kenny's room, sleeping on his bed with a bandage on her ankle. Kenny frowned.

"I motherfucking hate you dad." he said. He closed the curtains and set a blanket on Carol. He kissed her forehead.

"Why did you marry that guy?" He asked softly, knowing she couldn't hear him.

Kenny made some food and tightened his hood even more. He slid behind against a wall and slept.

On Thursday morning, Kenny woke up and smiled. He ran outside. It was snowing, and the ground had even more snow. He grabbed his iPod and ran to school. During class, he couldn't wait for lunch. When it finally came, he went backstage.

"What are you doing here Kenny?" Kyle asked. Turns out he was doing an act too.

" Oh nothing. Just watching from behind. It's a big stage and it's a crowded gym." Kenny said, coat muffling him.

"Oh OK." Kyle said, drinking some water.

Kenny smiled, but you couldn't tell because of the hood.


	4. Dance

Kenny was waiting for his turn. When Kyle was about to go up, he gave tossed Kenny his water bottle.

"Wish me luck!" he said.

Kyle walked up stage. Kenny was leaning against a wall, and he could see Kyle. Kyle began to jump rope, and was good. More than good, actually, he was doing moves Kenny had never seen before. The song playing was "You Are The One" by Shiny Toy Guns. After the act, everyone cheered.

"Great job!" Kenny said when Kyle came back stage.

"Thanks." Kyle said.

Next up was BeBe, and she was singing "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears. Kenny could hear everyone scream at her, but Kenny doubted it was about her voice. Because she was good, but she was having a struggle with that song. Kenny put in his headphones to drown them out. After almost all the acts, it was Kenny's turn.

"Dude, I didn't know you were doing an act!" Kyle said as Kenny got up.

Kenny turned to him and put down his hood.

"Well, we lie once in our lives don't we?" He said smiling.

Kenny ran up the stars and onto the stage. He realized how many people were there. He saw Butters, Tweek, Cartman and Stan sitting on a row. He took a big breath and snapped his fingers to start the music. When it began, Kenny saw Cartman snicker, and whisper something to Stan. Kenny began to dance.

He danced rather good apparently because some people were laughing but there was plenty of people cheering him on. He was sure if that was a good thing though. He assumed it was good. He danced and danced until the song ended when he finished. He was having fun, and his tattered hair whipped around. At one point he saw Cartman just bust out laughing, but Kenny didn't care. After he was done, he over looked the crowd. Some people got up and cheered while others laughed, and then some just sat there.

"Fag!" Cartman yelled loudly.

Some people laughed, and some others gave Cartman dirty looks. But a few people yelled the same thing at Kenny. Kenny just walked off stage smiling. When he reached backstage Kyle was waiting for him. He looked amazed.

"Dude, I didn't know you could do that! That was awesome!" Kyle said

"Eh, it was nothing." Kenny said. Wendy and BeBe came up to him. Wendy looked happy but BeBe looked annoyed or even jealous.

"Oh my God Kenny that was amazing! How did you learn that?" Wendy said.

"I just practiced a lot. I didn't get taught anything though. I really just free styled it out there." Kenny said.

He wasn't used to so much praise before, but Kenny liked it. He just smiled and answered questions. He heard Principle Victoria say something about the prizes. Kenny had forgotten about the prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd winners. 3rd place was Wendy, for her piece on the piano, which Kenny had to admit was rather amazing. She got up and took the 3rd place trophy. She looked pretty happy. She returned backstage and was smiling. 2nd place was Kyle for his jumprope, and when he returned he was smiling.

"Can't believe I won 2nd place! Amazing huh?" Kyle said.

"Yeah seriously!" Kenny said.

" And first place is... Kenny McCormick! For his act of dancing!" Principle Victoria said

"What?" Kenny said.

"Go up there!" Kyle said, giving Kenny a push.

Kenny walked up to the stage and received the award. He didn't what to say.

"Uh... Thank you...?" He said.

Kenny walked backstage.

"I.. I can't believe I won..." Kenny said,

"Yeah! You did amazing though!" Kyle said.

-::-

Afterwords, they went to lunch at a different time. While eating, Cartman looked at Kenny.

"Didn't known you were a fag dude. Well, who's your boyfriend? Kyle? Stan? Butters? Or maybe your into black guys and your hitting it with Token?" Cartman said, smiling

"Shut up Cartman!" Kenny said, muffled by his hood that he put on before lunch.

"Yeah shut up fat boy! Kenny was great!" Kyle said.

"Your just jealous Cartman that you didn't win anything!" Stan said.

"What? Like Kyle? Whatever he won 2nd place so what? I go for the gold!" Cartman said, semi proud.

"If you paid attention, you would know Kenny won 1st place, and so your jealous that Kenny won over anything you could do!" Stan said.

"Yeah!" Kenny said.

Kenny was happy and nervous on the inside. He was happy that a lot of people thought he was great, but he was nervous about Cartman. Kenny knew he could probably take Cartman down If it came to it, but maybe not if he wasn't expecting it.

"Shut up! I could beat Kenny anyway! With anything!" Cartman yelled.

"No you can't!" Stan yelled.

They went back and forth for a long time, with Kyle and Kenny putting in whenever needed. After lunch, they went back to class. Kenny could sense Cartman staring at him, but he didn't look back. After class, Kenny grabbed his books and talked with Butters for a bit. Then he walked out the door.

When Kenny got outside into the snow, he saw Cartman, Stan, and Kyle waiting for him. Cartman was looking at Kenny and Stan was whispering to him. Kenny walked out to them nervously.

"Hey-" Kenny began. He was suddenly cut off by a punch to his face.

Kenny staggered a bit, and put his hand to the left side of his face. He was met with a kick to the stomach, which caused him to fall on the snow clutching his stomach.

"Cartman.. What in God's name?..." Kenny said in pain, gritting his teeth and still clutching his stomach.

"See? Told ya I could take him down!" Cartman said laughing.

"Cartman! Kenny's hurt you dumb ass!" Kyle yelled.

Kenny got up slowly,wincing. Cartman could pack quite a punch if he was up to it. He got up, one handing clutching his stomach and his other hand punching Cartman's face. Cartman almost fell on the ground.

"What the hell you ass!" Cartman yelled.

"Don't fucking kick me!" Kenny yelled.

"Yeah, seriously Cartman. That was mean." Kyle said.

"Oh come on Kyle. You know I hate fags. Im just showing Kenny what think of him." Cartman said.

"I'm not a fucking fag!" Kenny said, still clutching his stomach in pain.

"Yeah, you are." Cartman said.

"I danced! Not all dancers are fags Cartman! Get it right!" Kenny yelled.

"Yeah right!" Cartman said,

Kenny was mad. He was done. He let go of his stomach and kicked Cartman,then ran to the forest behind the school. He found a large tree and climbed it. He took out his headphones and listened to music for a long time before climbing down. It had probably been an hour. He climbed down but fell off a branch 7 feet from the ground. Kenny fell hard. He wasn't unconscious, but he was in pain. Kenny didn't think he broke anything, so he got up and walked home. He held his right arm though, because he may have sprained a bone. He walked home and sat on the couch. He saw his mom come out of the hallway and sit next to him.

"Hey honey. Your face.. It looks beat up." She said, removing his hood and touching he's cheek.

"Could say the same to you... But it's fine, seriously." Kenny said.

"Did you get in a fight?" Carol said.

"No.. But I have a surprise." Kenny said, reaching for his backpack.

"Really? What is it?" She said.

He pulled out the trophy,which was kind if large. He showed it to her.

"Oh my God Kenny. What is this for?" Carol asked.

"1st place in the talent show today. I danced." Kenny said, smiling.

Carol looked at him and smiled.

"Kenny? You dance?" she said.

"Yeah.. that's why I'm usually home late. I decided to dance at the Talent Show andi won." He said.

"Oh my God. That's amazing! I wish I could see it!" She said.

"Well, I think the school taped it and is sending it to everyone who did something." Kenny said.

"Well I can't wait!" Carol said.

"Yeah.. Oh, but I think I look bad because I fell out of tree and got punched by Cartman." Kenny said.

"You fell out if a tree? Are you OK?" his mom said.

"Yeah.. My arm hurts but it's fine." Kenny said.

"Are you sure?" Carol said,concerned.

"No. Trust me, if it bothers me I'll tell you, OK? But wheres dad?" Kenny said.

"Oh, I think he went out with Randy for a bit." she said.

"Oh. How's your ankle?" He asked.

"Oh, it's fine. Didn't hurt it bad." She said.

Carol leaned and hugged Kenny. She stroked his hair and smiled.

"I'm so proud of you." she whispered.

"I love you." Kenny whispered back.

"To high Heaven and back baby." she said.


End file.
